First Serve
South Dakota is set to host the South Dakota Classic inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Sept. 7-8. In their home opener, the Coyotes will face NIVC runner-up Drake at 6 p.m. on Thursday. On Friday, South Dakota will match up against former Summit foe IUPUI at 11 a.m. before taking on South Florida at 7 p.m. Friday night. The Coyote Block Party will lead into the South Dakota vs. South Florida match and will feature live entertainment, a petting zoo, and the Coyote rummage sale. Prior to the game, the 2022 Summit League Regular Season and Tournament Championship banners will be unveiled. The theme of the game is "White Out". All matches will be streamed on the Summit League Network on Midco Sports Plus.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota (1-4) continues to fight through a challenging non-conference slate that includes No. 3 Louisville, the SEC's Missouri, and the Big 12's Iowa State (RV). The reigning Summit League regular season and tournament champions opened the season at the Cardinal and Gold Challenge hosted by Iowa State. South Dakota split the weekend, falling to Iowa State but sweeping DePaul.
 
The Yotes return three-time all-Summit middle blocker Madison Harms, who was named to the Cardinal and Gold Challenge all-tournament team. Harms put down a season-high 21 kills in USD's five-set battle against Northern Kentucky last weekend in Missouri with no errors on 27 attempts to hit .778. Freshman setter Avery Van Hook has stepped into the setter role for Coyotes and has recorded three double-doubles in five games, including a career-high 42 assists against NKU.
 
The Bulldogs
Drake (2-4) is coming off a 2022 season that featured a program record 30 wins and runner-up finishes in both the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and NIVC Tournament. The Bulldogs return most of the roster from a year ago, including two-time and reigning MVC Player of the Year Haley Bush. Drake also returns 2022 Valley Freshman of the Year Addison Beagle who recorded a single-season program record 1,613 assists last season.
 
In five games, Drake has faced three top 25 teams including No. 12 Marquette, No. 24 Western Kentucky, and #17 Washington State. The Bulldogs took Marquette to five sets and Washington State to four sets. Senior defensive specialist Jada Wills is the reigning back-to-back Valley Defensive Player of the Week and currently leads the NCAA with 6.17 digs per set. She also leads the MVC in total digs and sits at second nationally with 142 digs on the season.
 
The Jaguars
IUPUI (4-2) is under new coach Andrew Kroger who brings 12 years of experience to the program. He features a roster working in four new freshmen including Maia Long who has averaged 3.2 kills per set thus far and setter Grace Purichia who has five double-doubles in six matches.
 
Last weekend, IUPUI hosted the Hampton Inn Invitational and came away with two wins, including a 3-0 sweep of Oral Roberts. Long, who has a team-high 80 kills through six matches, led the attack for the Jaguars with eight kills. Defensively, the Jaguars have three players with double-digit blocks, led by Emily Alan's 16.0 blocks.
 
The Bulls
South Florida (2-3) will play host to this season's NCAA Volleyball Final Four. The Bulls opened the season hosting the Road to Tampa Bay Tournament, where they faced No. 20 Georgia Tech and No. 11 Florida. USF took the Gators to five sets in front of a record crowd of 6,877.
 
Transfer setter Caroline Dykes has already dished out 98 assists through five matches. With a career total of 1,955 she is only 45 assists away from hitting the 2,000 assists mark. After going 2-1 in the Bulls Invitational, sophomore outside hitter Maria Clara Andrade was named the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Andrade led the Bulls with 48 kills (4.36 k/s), 27 digs, and seven blocks on the weekend to take home her first weekly honor. It was also the first weekly honor for a South Florida player since 2016.
 
Up Next
The Coyotes hit the road for one last nonconference tournament before Summit play begins. The Green Bay Invite will feature three games over three days for South Dakota. The Coyotes will take on tournament host Green Bay on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m., Illinois State at 3 p.m. on Sept. 15, and Central Michigan on Sept. 16 at noon.